More

MindGeek, XVideos Settle Infringement Suit

Rhett PardonSep 26, 2016 11:52 AM PDT

LOS ANGELES — MindGeek has apparently settled with the operators of XVideos.com and XNXX.com in a suit filed last year that claimed the tube sites streamed its content in excess of 100 million times without authorization.

The adult entertainment conglomerate filed a federal lawsuit in October 2015 charging that WGCZ S.R.O., as well as owners Stephane Pacaud and Deborah Pacaud, were liable for copyright infringement, contributory copyright infringement and vicarious infringement.

MindGeek’s counsel two weeks ago filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in the case, with both parties stating they’d bear their own attorneys fees. A judge has yet to sign off on the dismissal.

Terms of the settlement were not revealed to the court.

The suit, which sought $150,000 for each infringed film as well as a restraining order as relief, said, “Defendants … have copied to their servers millions of audiovisual works ostensibly uploaded by their users, including tens or hundreds of thousands of works owned by plaintiffs.”

MindGeek charged that the defendants “purported to defend their conduct by invoking the ‘safe harbors’ of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act,” and that the company is a “repeat infringer.”

In the suit filed last year, MindGeek said that alleged infringed content came from a variety of websites, including scenes from Brazzers.com, RealityKings.com, Mofos.com, DigitalPlayground.com, Twistys.com, Babes.com and Men.com, as well as Wicked.com material.

MindGeek attorney David Steinberg did not immediately respond for XBIZ comment. Counsel for WGCZ S.R.O. could not be reached.